For Those Who Sleep
by Master Masa Random
Summary: The blue flowers were innocent of the odd happenings. Yes, there were stories that concerned them, but nobody cared to listen. They were silly stories of a young girl and boy who died. Stories of a harsh, terrible world. Stories of a curse. Just stories.
1. Chapter 1

___The characters and situations of Magister Negi Magi are the creation of and rightful property of Ken Akamatsu. They are used here without permission. This story may be freely redistributed, but it should not be altered substantially or used for profit in any way. Original characters appearing in this fanwork belong to their respective owners, whomever they may be._

_-MMR-_

* * *

_"Inazami! Pay attention!"_

_With a slightly startled gasp, the small girl playing amongst the yellow daisies snapped to and stared blankly at her wise keeper. Unlike the other people that lived in the area, the girl's hair was the color of the clouds in the bright blue sky, and her eyes sparkled an unnatural crimson like a ruby glittering in the moonlight. Pale pollen drifted lazily off her dark dress as she stood up and daintily made her way to the boy and his knee-high plant._

_His traditionally dark eyes softened slightly against the girl's cool gaze, but his voice held an undeniably firm tone, "If you don't listen to me now, then you won't understand what to do later on when I'm not around..."_

_Eyes that looked like pools of blood blinked unconcernedly, "But Inazagi... won't you always be with me?"_

_---_

The calmness of the spring was both beautiful and ethereal. Pretty flowers dotted the sides of the road and the flowers were blooming on every tree. Any breeze that chose to go through the Mahora area would immediately stir up the scents and wonders of the petals hanging heavily on the stems and branches of the fauna, teasing bypassers with their luscious aroma and lovely appearances. There was something sacred about the most simplest of flowers, a holiness to its appearance with all its imperfections.

For most people, however, the wonders of the season of life were easily ignored. Once the break that went along with the beginning of spring was over, the students no longer felt that the beauty of nature was quite as important as it once was.

Such a shame.

Like some sort of magic, the bright yellow of an innocent flower seemed to grow dimmer and convulsed erratically. Eventually the petals seemed to turn blue as icy tendrils coiled themselves around the unfortunate daisy. Despite the warmth of the day, the ice emcompassing the flower didn't seem to melt at all. Even as a young man quietly bent down and removed the flower from between the cracks in the cement, the icy prison didn't even seem to notice the warmth radiating from his fingertips.

"You are a creature of the spring imbued with the touch of winter..." like a teacher speaking to a dear pupil, he whispered, "I am yours if you are mine. _Amor mei ferrum, contemno mei contego. Emergo mei amor._"

His eyes narrowed with a mixture of compassion and disgust, like a man who's prizest possesion was also his most disgusting. To his eyes and his eyes alone, the cold spirit of the newly infused ice-flower quickly wrapped itself around his hand, down his arm, and seeped into the ground at his feet. Nobody noticed the thin layer of frost on the ground where the boy paused to look at a flower, and by the time anybody stood at that same spot, the only thing to indicate the boy's existance was the poor, broken stem of a once beautiful flower.

The rest of the young fellow's walk was largely uninteresting, and he only paused twice more until he left the Mahora district via train station, staring wistfully out the window of his compartment as the public transport slowly made its way away from the area.

"There he goes..."

Sakurazaki Setsuna slowly put the binoculars down just as her partner switched the safety on her gun. For the two of them, this was merely another day on the job, just another target. Unfortunately...

"What a way to waste our lunch period..." holding back a heavy sigh, one Tatsumiya Mana put down her M40 while aimlessly forcing a slightly deformed riceball to her mouth. With the alteration of her contract to now being paid only after the target's nuetralization, these waiting games have been quite a dagger to her money to time ratio.

The ponytailed swordswoman carefully set the small binoculars on the ledge of the railing, easing herself over in a relaxed posture, "Well, at least we know where its coming from..."

A grunt was the only reply.

Today's - and most of last week's - job was related to a series of strange happenings in the more crowded areas of Mahora: more specifically, the park and surrounding buildings. With the flowers and trees blooming and more and more people showing up to look at them, it's no wonder that at least one supernatural phenomenon would show up and cause a bit of trouble.

The Hibiscus genus in Japan usually flowers a pleasant pink color, especially the ones in the park, due to the Flower Committee's careful guidance and motherly nurturing. They've been healthy for years, thriving even when the winter chill lingers, blooming at just the right moment, and fancied as being some of the most beautiful shrubs in the district. This year, however, the startlingly bright, neon blue of the flowers attracted some... rather unwanted attention. Especially since - to a mage's eye - the flowers seemed to radiate with an alarmingly near-infinite well of pure magical essence. With the correct wavelengths, a child with the smallest spark of magic in their blood could easily become something far more disasterous than say... Asuna in a senior home.

Most of the problems only share that common root: having happened after the blooming of the unnaturally-colored flowers. Only a week after the blue phantasm's appearance, a few young girls went missing. A little while after that, Mahora Primary schools closed for a week due to a sudden outbreak of influenza - which eerily only affected the students. When a traveling musician vanished from the park bench where he slept, Setsuna and Mana were called in; that musician was a Kansai League Demon Exterminator.

"And on the third day, we still have no real lead..." Mana said with the slightest hint of irritation.

The two probably looked like an interesting pair, due to their rather obvious weaponry, now concealed in a couple of not-so-inconspicious guitar cases. Starting last semester, the Kansai League and the Kanto Imperial Magistrate began to run a series of control laws to keep mages under the thumbs of the regulators. Over the last year, the Human Realization Percentile has rose more than 300%, caused mainly due to these so-called "Vigilante Associations". On the top of that list... Mahora's Self Defense Team.

Although Mana's mind was filled mostly with anger and remorse over the new regulations of operating mercenary groups, Setsuna's was pondering over her partner's last statement.

"Well that boy seems strange enough. Only after he showed up did the flowers bloom. We could incapacitate him and wait for any change."

Half a laugh burst from Mana's lips before she managed to hold it in reign, "That'll only work if he's working alone. Otherwise, the abnormalities will just continue. Then what? We still wouldn't know. We'd just have an unconscious mage hostage." She stroked her throat with the back of her hand, sighing as she did so, "Damn rules."

"It really was easier just a year ago..."

Something that looked far too dangerous glinted behind Mana's soft brown eyes, but disappeared before the calm swordswoman could say anything. Under heavy, scutinizing watch, the two were like mice in a cage, yet expected to go about their daily routine as though nothing were wrong at all. How could they work under such ways!?

Even now, there was a feeling of the two being watched by an unknown third-party. A patsy of the government trailing their tail like a sort of unwanted, irritating shadow. This was something that Konoemon warned them about.

"The Kanto Imperials and Kansai League have both sent in specialists to help you. But..." The old man suddenly laughed, his outrageous head bobbing slightly, "They're not very good at the teamwork business... Just make sure you get the point across: we're the good guys, too."

"If we were the good guys," Mana said sullenly as they turned the corner and beheld the school gates welcoming them, "Why don't those guys show themselves?"

"Because," said a masculine voice behind the two, "We were instructed not to."

Without hesitation, Setsuna's sword was already unsheathed, its marvelous blade whistling through the air. With a threatening whisper, the gleaming metal stopped only a breath away from the outsider's throat. The clicking of a weapon's safety switch also added to the situation, although only Mana's collected, mercenary face seemed to give away that she had a concealed weapon out.

The man's smiling face made it seem as though not a thing was wrong on this splendid spring day. He was dressed awkwardly, not blending into the scene at all well. The brown, patched cap was tilted strategically over his right eye, revealing a dull, mischevious brown orb that twinkled playfully in th sunlight. Hanging loosely over his shoulders was a thick brown coat, long and reduced to a patchwork, appearing to be something for more use in the winter time... the rest of his attire was concealed within the folds of the large coat, although his arms were raised slightly out from the inside, as though to signify a rather pitious surrender.

When he opened his mouth, his voice took a drastic change from the cold, calculative and demeaning to... rather nasally, weak, and almost pathetic. His smirk, on the other hand, retained his first voice's attributes, "I see I've stumbled upon Mahora's guards... be nice to poor Jonah, huh?"

Mana kept her face still as she motioned to the gates with outstretched arms, "After you, sir. I'm sure you were coming this way to meet the Dean..."

As Setsuna's hilt nudged his side, the man quizically looked around and grinned, "Yes... the Dean... yes."

The sword slid stealthily back into the guitar case. It's owner didn't hide her displeasure, "So why are you sneaking around here? Don't you think we'll assume the worst?" She grit her teeth in an unladylike demeanor when a shrill bell echoed through the campus. "And now we're late for class..."

"I'm sure Negi-sensei won't mind..." Despite the delicate situation before her, the gun-toting mercenary seemed to finally take on an air of enjoyment. She had long awaited this inevitable moment of contact with another party. If violence was involved... all the better.

It may have been a lucky thing that classes began. Due to this, the odd group could very easily manuever through the halls without any fear of interference. While Mana enjoyed the lessened chances of accidental meetings, Setsuna grew unnerved by it. The silence of the hallways were... far too unnatural... especially for a girls' school. At the very least, there should be a patrolling teacher checking for tardies.

"Say, Mana..."

"Yeah?"

A bird chirping at the edge of the window nearly made the sword maiden forget about her disturbed feelings, but when the presently harmless prisoner began to wriggle slightly in his coat, the paranoia reached a new height. "Something doesn't feel right..."

Something inside their pitiful companion's coat exploded, sending the man reeling backwards as Mana and Setsuna scrambled for cover. Although the direction of Jonah's body indicated that the attacker came from further down the hall, the next explosion came from directly behind.

Just as Mana was flung forward by the explosion set upon her back, Setsuna turned in time to catch another magical bomb in the face. Surprisingly, it didn't hurt at all. The worst of it ended the moment she stopped sliding on the ground, much like a rough push.

Jonah, now revealed to be something more than a mere spy, moved erratically from within his dark coat. His face was contorted in a mix of great amusement and concentration, a glint of madness as his arms moved to collect the strange purple essence that seemed to ebb into existance from the strange cylinder attached to his wrist. The moment his fingertips touched the gaseous color it solidified and immediately took itself to be launched in the direction of the two girls.

With the expertise and accuracy of a professional gunslinger, Mana shot three of the purple orbs out with a harmless air gun, smirking as she did so. They moved slowly, to her eyes. Far too easy to be any trouble. They seemed to exist only when their molecular structure was closely intwined, so the smallest disturbance - tiny, hard pellets, for example - would cause it to dispurse into oblivion.

Within a few seconds Jonah's onslaught of attacks ended, caused by his being knocked senseless via tiny plastic ball to the temple. As he staggered he seemed to laugh at his own predicament, but the only intelligible words that came out of his mouth was, "Ow."

Swordsgirl and Gunner each took an arm and easily lifted the man. With a look of inner warmth, Mana turned to her battle-wearied partner, "Well, this could be fun."


	2. Chapter 2

___The characters and situations of Magister Negi Magi are the creation of and rightful property of Ken Akamatsu. They are used here without permission. This story may be freely redistributed, but it should not be altered substantially or used for profit in any way. Original characters appearing in this fanwork belong to their respective owners, whomever they may be._

_-MMR-_

* * *

Konoemon Konoe hadn't been feeling all that well as of late. In fact, it was downright awful trying to keep up the appearance of a healthy, decrepit old wizard. His back was hurting, his left foot was swelling up considerably, and the bags under his eyes were beginning to compete with the wrinkles on his forehead. To top it off, the plants in the nearby park were beginning to mutate into magical phenomena and the Imperial Magistrate thinks it's Mahora's doing.

It certainly wasn't good to be Dean right now.

And to make matters worse, the young, rambling woman that the Imperials sent seemed to not even understand the rules of hospitality and demanded the most rediculous...

"Are you even listening to me, Konoemon!?"

Snapping up out of his comfortable position and quickly wiping the small bit of saliva at the corner of his mouth, the wizened Dean of Mahora Gakuen quickly nodded and tried to look alert. It was still pretty tough.

She was a very beautiful woman, with a pale face, narrow waist, and a rather perfect bosom. In her strange clothing, it was incredible that nobody noticed her sulking around the city. At least, none of Konoemon's attendants seemed to notice her. A dark green dress that completely exposed the arms and left leg was the only thing that seemed to cover the woman's lithe body, not including the two Japanese swords on her right hip.

Suddenly Konoemon got to wondering how she acquired such weapons. She wasn't Japanese, that was for sure. Bright green eyes, yellow hair, and that impressive bust definitely gave her away. Before his wandering mind could make any sort of reasonable hypothesis, the woman began to snap her slender fingers for attention again.

"I do hope you've been paying attention. I'll repeat once more... Mahora must..."

Miracles do happen. The door to the office burst open, quite effectively so by the twin kicks supplied by Mahora's finest mercenary dispatch. They were surprisingly accompanied by a third person, who they carried with highly differing looks of irritation and sheer joy.

Better yet, it shut up the woman.

But not for long.

"Jonah Lawson! What are you doing here!?"

The tired-looking and defeated man slumped even further in the students' arms, mumbling a half-hearted, "Good afternoon, Sera." Her name, however, seemed to cheer up his disposition, and he very casually lifted himself up from the girls' hold, thanked them for their assistance, and made his way to the center of the room.

Konoemon smiled weakly to his renegae self-defense team, "Girls, would you please take a seat? Miss Sera here is the leading investigator from the Imperial Magistrate in Tokyo. She's here to... investigate." And with a sigh of either contentedness of irritation bubbling from his cracked lips, he leaned back into a very lax manner, readying himself for the maelstrom of cruel nagging.

The Sera woman took her left hand and snapped it expertly to her hip while her right went to rub her temples, "This is rediculous... who are these girls!?"

"You might say that they are my personal guards..."

"Then why did they attack Jonah? He's a documented and recognized mage of the Imperial Magistrate's Dilemma Committee..."

If Konoemon could make his face look sinister, the slight tilt of his head and furrowed brow was about as close to it as he could get to it. "The only recognized document for outsiders on Mahora campus is a visitor's pass."

A mask seemed to fall away from Ms. Sera's face, for the contempt, shrewd glare seemed to disintegrate and reveal a pale facade of utter surprise. It was swiftly replaced, however, by a countenance of absolute anger. "How dare you, Konoemon!? How dare you!? Your insolence and hubris has gotten you into this mess, and, in respect for the alliances of the Eastern Magicians, Tokyo has come to your aid! Yet you act like a spoiled child who refuses to acknowledge that he's in the wrong!"

"I love it when you're chosen to be the diplomat~"

If not for the awkwardly-dressed young man's sudden interjection, the pretty woman would have likely continued her rant far into the oblivion. Instead, she merely tightened her lips and pouted. With a tired smile, Jonah bowed and directed himself towards the Dean of Mahora. "Good afternoon, sir. My name is Jonah Lawson, Silver Rank Alchemist from the Nippon-Alchemists Guild. May I stand in to explain what we're all doing here?"

Konoemon nodded off briefly, but waved his hand slightly as though to instruct the young man to continue on with his explanation. Besides, it was certainly better than the angry commands of that other woman.

"I... we were sent here to check up on your guys' special flowers. We're just waiting for them to go back to normal, so that we don't have such an outrageous chance of a normal person stumbling on something... unnatural..."

"What about the kidnapping?"

The moment the words came out of Setsuna's mouth, she regretted it. Sera, already upset about being overshadowed by the alchemist, now looked utterly horrified. Jonah turned his head around so quickly that he nearly snapped his neck. Even Konoemon looked a little dismayed by the small slip of the tongue.

When the blonde woman's tongue finally found its way back home, she immediately turned to Konoemon with eyes ablazed, "You never told me about any kidnapping!"

"Oh damn. More paperwork..."

Sera took the strange man's arm roughly and looked at Konoemon, the two girls, then back to the old man, "This sort of information would have been much appreciated before now! I'll be back tomorrow morning, Konoemon. By then, my demands are to be obeyed, otherwise I assure that penalties will follow. Until then..."

The door slammed sut behind her, sealing off the outside world from the room's three inhabitants.

"I'm... sorry..." Setsuna stammered pitifully as she slowly closed the distance between herself and the great desk that concealed much of the Dean's lower body. Such a tragic miscalculation... the girl didn't know much about the secret politics that encompass Japan's magic socieities. They were so numerous and interwoven that they were much like a spiderweb over the entire peninsula.

Instead of looking like he was expressing any form of anger, the old man merely stood up and walked slowly to the window, smiling faintly. He coughed twice, then reassured Setsuna, "Don't worry about it so much. I was hoping to keep it secret for a little bit as a safety measure, but... I suppose it's better than they find out sooner than later."

Mana finally rose her voice, "What were they here for?" She smirked when Setsuna's confused look came over her, "I don't believe that they just caught wind of the blue flowers and came to check in on us..."

"Oh!" Setsuna turned back to Konoemon with a look of surprise, "That Jonah man attacked us in the hallway!"

"I wouldn't worry too much about that..."

Mana's insistent voice said otherwise, "He deliberately acted so that he wouldn't have to face you! I think this Jonah guy is a little dirty."

"Again, the Imperials are much more secretive that we Mahora types..."

"But...!"

With a wheezing laugh, Konoe Konoemon turned and smiled at his underlings, "I keep forgetting that you two weren't here to listen to that Sera woman." he took a few sweeping strides towards the girls, raising his arms into a protective gesture, "Come, sit down. This news could be... a little difficult to hear standing up."

Without even a questioning look, the two young girls slowly sat down, their respective weapons hanging off their fingertips and silently grazing the wooden floorboards. Although their bodies seemed to be relaxed, their minds were antsy and ready for a fight. One would suppose a new face does that to a person.

Yet the wise, collected Konoemon seemed to be at peace in both mind and body. He very slowly took his right sleeve and eased it towards his shoulder revealing one, two, three, four... seven gray bands lining his arm like tattoos. A simple roman numeral stood out faintly on each band, almost appearing to glow on the man's wrinkled skin.

"W...what have you done?" the ponytailed girl remained seated, but the sword slipped slightly out of her slender hands.

In a sort of resigned manner, the old wizard put his sleeve back in its place and lounged into his chair, "One of the Imperial's great plans... they're sealing the magic of every mage they meet around here." He shook his head in a half-angry, half-bemused way, "It's some sort of safety check... they can do it without being near you too. Some sort of specialist magician can perform it just by knowing your magic unlock rite. A cheap trick, I'd say!"

At least that explained his anger over the Imperial mages. Setsuna's thoughts, though, were on a different person, "So... who hasn't been affected?"

Mana, who until now has been silent, finally made her interjection, much to Setsuna's chagrine, "Don't worry about your girlfriend. She's unregistered, remember?"

Before the swordswoman could retort, Konoemon made a quick comment, "Yes, and I "misplaced" the forms of mage names located in the city. Unless they sniff you out, the secret mages should be safe." He snapped his sleeve back, revealing only the pale skin of his hand, "Shame, long sleeves in the springtime."

"Why would they do this though? Why are they so fearful of internal troubles?"

"Because of the fourteen members sent to assist Mahora, four went insane and one killed herself." A rather cool voice answered Mana's sincere question with a collective sigh, "The school staff hasn't taken that sort of news lightly..."

A rather tall fellow appeared from within the shadows in the back of the room. It seemed that in the duration of the meeting between the young lady and old Konoe, a certain bespectacled teacher hid himself from sight in the corner. Finally revealed, Takamichi Takahata wavered between sitting and standing, finally choosing to pace in the background, "We found Professor Akashi in the park last night. He suffered from a mental breakdown and was, apparently, attempting to dig underneath the Hibiscus plant." The gray-haired hawk of a man quietly raised his glasses up off his face and exhaled on the lens, "A few of the others merely ran off in that time. As soon as he was properly cared to and sent to the infirmary, the Imperial Magisters arrived."

"Sounds fishy."

A weak chuckle broke the tension with its casual demeanor, but Konoemon's voice held all the security of Mahora in his words, "I trust the Imperials. Even if they're a bunch of paranoid fools."

"Well, I hope this ends quickly," With the fear and anxiety in the air having been dispersed by the pincer-tactics of Dean Konoe and Glasses of Death Takamichi, the youth of the two stood up and smiled tenderly, "Then we can resume the normal cycle of things."

"So..." The two girls followed their teacher's example, looking about questioningly, "What are we to do?"

As though the two older fellows actually forgot about the younger girls, they did a quick double-take and interchanged a pair of worried smirks, "Just go about your usual day. The Imperials have officially taken over. Nothing's wrong."

Mana snorted and turned to walk out, Setsuna hot on her heels "Yeah, nothing ever is."

The doors shut quietly behind them, about the same time Takamichi took a single, stubby cigarette from his inner pocket. He jammed it into his mouth roughly and began to shake his head angrily, "This isn't going to end at all well..."

"What else can we do?" Konoemon swiveled his chair so that it faced outside. With a faint squeak it slowed to a stop, then moved slightly backwards to account for his weight plus the weight of the world, "They're all that we have left..."


	3. Chapter 3

___The characters and situations of Magister Negi Magi are the creation of and rightful property of Ken Akamatsu. They are used here without permission. This story may be freely redistributed, but it should not be altered substantially or used for profit in any way. Original characters appearing in this fanwork belong to their respective owners, whomever they may be._

_-MMR-_

* * *

_"Oi! Izanami! Stop bothering the townspeople..."_

_The young boy threw his backpack on the large stone that marked the beginning of the children's hiding place. Despite the secrecy, you could very easily see all of town and most of the more popular spots of play. The yellow flowers seemed to be just as happy today as they were yesterday. Those damn flowers are a never changing phenomena of the natural world._

_From out of the large bush came out a silver-haired girl's head. She smiled gleefully towards her companion, but it drooped increasingly as he grew closer. Obviously he wasn't in the best of moods._

_"You've frightened more people! They think a ghost is haunting the grounds!" Izanagi crossed his arms angrily and glared in an upsetting manner, "You must stay here! Understand?"_

_Dark pools of red blinked absently, but with a slight nod, it appeared as though the young girl understood. She came out of the bush slowly, careful to reveal herself to her lone guest. Tonight she wore a frail-looking black dress, all made from what looked like shadows wrapping themselves around her moonlit skin. She was a terribly haunting spectacle, and her voice seemed to acknowledge that. "I'm sorry..."_

_Flicking his hair out of his eyes, the dark-eyed boy slightly relaxed his shoulders as he calmed down. Although still frowning critically, he seemed to give off a forgiving aura._

_"Just... be more careful... okay?"_

---

"Okay everyone! Repeat after me~ 'She sells seashells by the sea shore!'"

The following array of discord was so terrifying and grotesque that the poor child of an English teacher immediately collapsed into his seat with grief. There was no point to this sort of examination. Every girl has to be able to correctly recite that tongue twister three times before being allowed to move on to another subject for learning. If the young Negi Springfield didn't know any better, he would have thought that Konoemon's orders for such a ridiculous bookmark was some sort of diabolical plan to hinder his regular teaching patterns.

'No!' Negi thought with a shudder, 'This is merely another test as a teacher!" With a proud look on his face, he quickly stood up to face is students, "One more time!"

As the exuberant teacher continued his demonstration on proper tongue use for such difficult phrases, Setsuna began to take more and more peeks at her princess. In fact, the peeks were beginning to string together into a very long staaaaaare. It wasn't mere childish infatuation, as much as Mana teased the swordsgirl over it, but it was rather a disturbance with the thread that bound the two as Master and Guardian. No matter how embarrassing or obvious ii seemed, the link between childhood friends was as strong as the bond between Magister and Minister.

Konoka Konoe, in all her loving obliviousness, looked up from her English book and then straight at Setsuna. Although the ponytailed girl immediately averted her eyes and body back to Negi's position, she seen the way Ojou-sama smiled at her.

Guess there was nothing to worry about...

"She shells she... blast..." Before Springfield-sensei could fix his own mistakes, however, the bell rang out with a shrill cry, signaling a break for the busybody students and staff. "Well hopefully I'll be able to say it again when we all come back from afternoon break!"

Spring fever seemed to linger on in some of the students, who left with looks of disgruntled, tired teenagers. A few, mainly Negi's fan club, expressed some pleasant comments on the current curriculum to the weary boy before heading out to their break. Before the markswoman and swordswoman could leave, though, the magister promptly held out a clenched hand to the two.

"I was supposed to give you these now. You two are supposed to head to Konoemon-sensei's office during break. You're not in trouble, are you?" He added with a worried look.

Mana was the first to take the slip of paper from Negi's small hands, therefore the first to read it. Before Setsuna could even get a glimpse, she shook her head and immediately pocketed it, "No, not in trouble. We might be late coming back, though."

The red-haired child put on a kind smile that far surpassed his years, "Don't worry about it. I'm sure it's more important than some tongue-twisters and riddles."

---

In the morning, when the mist settles only a few feet above the ground, the forest and mountains of Japan looked mystical and holy. Truly, such a land was in some ways magical. Yet in the rapidly fleeing light and the settling darkness, the very same scene looked frightening and sinister. The place where ancient gods and friendly sprites reside became the dwellings of demons and poltergeists. Every tree became a watchman, and the shadows seemed to crawl up your legs, eager to pierce your heart.

"So what's going on, Mana?"

The two girls, still in their school uniforms, now quietly followed the trail ever deeper into the forest's depths. Shadows so thick that they seemed to coagulate into pools of pure darkness crept closer to the path. A few lamps here and there, mainly used to guide tourists back to the city, dotted the sides of the trail, but the actual light that radiated from them seemed to only be smothered by the impeding night.

Mana eased a magnum from off her hip and twirled it casually around her pointer finger. With the cool conduct expressed between mercenaries, she only smirked and eyed her partner lazily, "There was a breach in the defenses out here... another tourist went missing."

"Anybody important?" The trend following the knowledge of the Imperials inclusion now called for Setsuna to believe that anyone who was kidnapped to be some sort of formidable state magister.

"I don't think so, otherwise those Imperial guys would have handled it..." A growl followed the sentence.

With her sword settled on her shoulder, Setsuna felt a bit safer. Safe enough to chuckle, at least. "At least they're not sticking their nose in other affairs. I think they're only allowed to work with the hibiscus problem."

"Yeah, as if they won't..."

The words died in her mouth as something snapped over to their right. A twig, no doubt, but twigs don't usually break without a cause. The trees seemed to sway with a heavy burden. Mana's fingers slowly snapped the safety to off.

Bursting from the trees, covered in leaves and dirt, came a man. With the mud smeared across his face and the small twigs stuck to his red shirt, he would have been mistaken for a common college guy lost in the woods. White buds clung to his ears and, even in the racket that he made, from it came a rhythmic sound of guitar and drums. His light green eyes widened slightly when the two girls came into view. He even smiled a little, "Oh, hello."

"Hello."

His smile didn't falter a bit. "Run."

Following the young man bounded a beast about the size of a common lion. It even bore a small similarity with the mane-bearing King of the African lands, but the fur on this beast seemed to have been made out of crystal. Its roar even had a metallic quality to it. Upon breaking through the fauna and into open ground, it leapt at the man, who promptly fell to the ground, allowing the beast to soar harmlessly overhead.

Instinctively, Mana squeezed off a few rounds before dodging to the left. The flattened bullets harmlessly clattered as they fell onto the pebbled path. Setsuna's sword came down hard on the beast's back, but the blade only bounded off the shining blue crystal and seemed to not even faze the creature.

It landed lightly, turning to stare at its prey. It didn't look at all organic in any way; even its eyes looked like rubies. A beautiful monster, to say the least. Without warning, however, it talked.

"Stand down, children."

Setsuna, when she was younger, used to watch Konoka play in the gardens of the old home. When it was windy, the chimes hanging on the side of the house would often ring out in a most beautiful medley of notes. Strangely, the monster's voice reminded her of such a sound. It almost made her angry.

The man carefully adjusted his earbuds before looking at the monster again, "Sorry to drag you into this, girls." After getting the kinks out of neck, he let out a slow breath, settling into a fighting stance. His weight seemed to all be concentrated on his back foot, his hands moved slowly above his head in a circular motion, and he closed his eyes whilst humming out of tune. To the trained eye... he looked like a complete idiot.

"Die!" In the blink of an eye, the monster leapt straight towards the man, its body a light blur against the dark outlines of the trees. Its glowing red eyes seemed to illuminate the man's calm face as the beast's dripping jaws began to bite down on his throat.

Before either of the awestruck girls could comprehend what just happened, the monster was writhing on the ground, appearing to dissolve into the evening air. Before it completely vanished, however, one could obviously see that it was severed in two, quite cleanly down the middle. Obviously, even the crystal monster didn't see that sort of deathblow coming.

With the danger of the moment passed, the man listening to the loud rock and roll music turned to the girls and smiled warmly. "Sorry about that. It's easier for me to fight in the open." He looked questioningly at their weapons, "I hope you two are the Mahora sect."

Mana nodded quickly.

"So..." He tilted his head a little and frowned, looking like he was trying to remember a name to match a face, "Are you a samurai or something?"

"Wha-?"

"And you must be..." The man's cheery complexion darkened slightly when his eyes fell on Mana's hand, or, more precisely, the gun. "Clint Eastwood."

Faster than the eye could see, the gun was jammed under the man's jawbone and the trigger pulled without a breath taken in between.

The click of the gun dry-firing echoed noisily, but the man's frightened yelp easily drowned it out.

"Now that I have your attention, would you be so kind as to identifying yourself?"

Setsuna could only laugh as the frightened man quickly reached down his shirt and pulled out a laminated card attached to the thin cord tied around his neck. His voice, so calm and sure of himself moments ago, shakily repeated the name inscribed on the card, "Kyle Smith! Just one of the guys sent to help you out..."

"Hmm, more Imperial soldiers..." Setsuna nodded slightly, as though allowing the news to sink in a bit.

Mana seemed not quite so assured, and snatched the card away with slight severity. "Why are none of you Japanese?"

After examining the object with an irritated sigh, Mana handed the slip to Setsuna. The swordswoman handled it with a great deal more respect. Obviously Konoemon's words the day before made a sort of change to the ways the Imperials were moving about. Unbeknownst to them, Konoemon's special visitors' passes are also used to track the person in an almost psuedo-pactio sort of way. Once they were on record and signed themselves as visitors, Konoemon would be able to track their moves on campus.

The pass changed hands once more, ending with Mr. Kyle Smith slowly slipping it back underneath his shirt. With the gun back in its holster and Setsuna's blade covered, the man seemed a great deal more relieved. "Well, it's good to see that you guys have your guards up."

"Yes well... you Imperial types don't really care for age-old boundaries, do you?"

The fellow had the gall to laugh, going so far as to put his hands behind his head and begin marching down the path back to the school, "Boundaries are a work of mortals. Who am I to obey such laws?" His ridiculous laugh resounded through the trees and the inky night sky, "Thanks again for the help, girls! See you in the next meeting!"

As he rounded the corner the mercenary gals promptly cringed. These were the sorts that they now depended on? Oh, this will not end well at all…


End file.
